The present invention generally relates to telecommunications systems and more particularly to techniques for reordering packets received in a different order than the order in which they were sent.
Packets sent in a certain ordering through a packet switched network may arrive at a destination out of order. For example, in a packet switched network, packets may be sent through different paths in the network. The time each packet takes to travel through the different paths may vary. Accordingly, packets may be sent in one order and received in another order.
In some instances, applications may be sensitive to packet order. For example, an application may require that packets sent in one order should be processed in that order. In one example, packets that are carrying a time division multiplex (TDM) payload should be processed in the order in which they were sent.
If packets are received out of order, then the applications that are sensitive to packet order may not be able to process the packets. With the inherent design of a packet switched network, which sends packets through different paths through a network, packets are often received in an order different from the order the packets were sent. Accordingly, this may be a problem for applications that require packets to be processed in the order in which they were sent.